“Told You So”

On Miguel’s forthcoming third album, War & Leisure, the slow-jams king is dressing up his feel-good R&B anthems as politically charged invectives. (“Shockandawe,” released in September, is littered with loaded images of warfare and media critiques.) “Told You So,” his latest single, is a funk jam baked with layers of meaning. “I don’t wanna control you/I can set you free/Just come with me” he coos. Is he winking at a lover or is he suggesting something more radical? The song’s electrifying beat would suggest the former, particularly with his breathy yips and flirty howls, but the foreboding nature of the lyrics are impossible to ignore. “Every pleasure you taste has its price,” he warns as the song struts frantically forward.

The accompanying music video finds Miguel hightailing it to a desert, pulling over at a dusty plateau, and unleashing his inner Prince while rockets launch in the distance. His dance sequence––a flurry of skipping and slick hip-popping––is woven into grainy footage of Vietnam riots and Trump protests. Halfway through, the drums halt, the guitar-grinding evaporates, and Miguel’s sky-high vocals hang in the air like streaks behind a jet. It’s a fleeting moment of peace in the middle of a dancefloor smash, and it only lasts a few seconds until the rhythm resurrects. But behind the ensuing fist-pumping, moonwalking, and keyed-up vocal runs, it lingers.